Eating at Carlo’s Sheikh Zayed: A defaced duplication

If you are a downtowner you probably know Carlo's, which is on Zamalek’s Le Pacha boat. It is the ultimate spot on the boat’s deck, open-air with a picturesque view, a most comprehensive menu (Lebanese, French, Italian and Asian) and the best freshly baked baladi bread in town.

The service may be slow and the clientele of middle-aged men and botoxed ladies can get a little creepy on weekends, but the place is widely celebrated, no doubt partly because it more than covers the posh Egyptian food pyramid: sushi, shisha and alcohol.

The eatery's quirky bamboo chairs and the vibration of Le Pasha’s engine eventually grow on you. Recently I visited the restaurant's branch in the posh suburb of Sheikh Zayed and was up for a great disappointment.

The moment I stepped in, I realized that a big reason why I love Carlo's is the Nile view, which in Sheikh Zayed is naturally replaced with a view of the concrete wall of Arkan Mall. Despite the glass ceiling and contemporary décor, the place feels gloomy and depressing. The grey flooring, walls, tables and couches cancel out and even reverse the effect of the glass ceiling, turning the spacious eatery into a cave of cement.

Aside from a couple of housewives who made fun of what I was wearing, the place was deserted.

The maitre d'hôtel looked familiar — he immediately approached our table to take the order. Unlike at the Zamalek branch, service is impeccable. Our waiter took the time to recommend a few specialties, which never happens in consistently packed Le Pacha.

The recommended dish was shankaleesh, a healthy savory appetizer rich in flavors which will always be on my list of hors d'oeuvres at Carlo's. The delectable dish is a jumbling up of white 'istambuli' cheese, diced peppers and tomatoes, generously bathed in olive oil and spices. Heavenly.

Our waiter also aced with his second recommendation, shawerma in “sag.” a tortilla-like Lebanese bread, instead of the mini “shami” breads we are used to. These small delights were pleasantly surprising — juicier, better seasoned and with more tahina in them than in your average shawerma at Carlo's Le Pacha.  Also added to my list of essential Carlo's appetizers.

The hummus with lemon syrup was a little sharp and acidy, and pastrami hummus had less pastrami than the usual. It also seems Carlo's Sheikh Zayed had a shortage in sumac and pomegranate molasses which made Carlo’s notoriously famous savory fattoush taste like more like salata baladi, the common Egyptian salad. Not exactly what I expected.

If there is anything that kept me going back to Carlo's all these years, it would be their baked bread, always warm and fresh. Unfortunately the Sheikh Zayed sister eatery lacks this advantage — their bread basket was meager and mundane.

A generous table of appetizers would cost around LE120 per person which is a lot of money. For a main course, the Zayed branch lacks the diversity of Le Pacha's branch (there, a client can order from any of the 4 main restaurants on the boat); however, they do have a pretty comprehensive sushi menu — just be prepared to increase your bill to LE250.  After my peculiar visit to Carlo's Sheikh Zayed, I realized that, whether the food is impeccable or not, the cheap bamboo and the deafening engine noise are what makes Carlo's special.

Carlo's Arkan Mall, Sheikh Zayed
Tel: 01122208881